Young QBs, defense to be on display in spring game
It was something the Miami Hurricanes were deprived of around the same time last year, a month into the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in America.
Miami fans will get a middle-ofthe-offseason look at the progress the Hurricanes have made since last fall when they lace up for their first spring game in two years, beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday from Hard Rock Stadium. While tickets aren’t being sold, the intrasquad scrimmage that wraps up UM’s 15-practice spring slate will air on ACC Network.
“I want to see a clean scrimmage,” Miami coach Manny Diaz said after Thursday’s practice. “I want to see good execution on both sides. Two sides making it difficult on one another. Guys making tough catches into tough coverage, and every time that ball’s handed off, it’s a battle of wills because the offense is trying to run it better, defense is trying to stop the run better.
“When I mean clean, no missed assignments, no penalties, great effort and, obviously, I want our guys to stay healthy.”
The Hurricanes aren’t exactly going into the spring game healthy. They have 15 players sitting out with injuries that range from holding them out up to near the Sept. 4 opener against Alabama down to being likely to return early in summer workouts.
Namely, safety Bubba Bolden, running back Donald Chaney Jr. and cornerback Te’Cory Couch won’t participate on Saturday. Neither will linebacker Sam Brooks after missing much of the spring. Defensive tackle Nesta Silvera and tight end Will Mallory were already known to be out for the entire spring, along with starting quarterback D’Eriq King.
As King rehabs the torn ACL in his right knee this offseason, younger signal callers Tyler Van Dyke and Jake Garcia have impressed in UM’s first two closed scrimmages this spring, according to Diaz.
“If there has been one silver lining to missing D’Eriq this spring is all the reps that the young quarterbacks can get. There’s no substitute for that,” Diaz said. “Seeing the way that Tyler looked poised, Jake looked, at times, he had a couple of throws and a couple of decisions that were like ‘Whoa,’ but then he settled down. He made some throws that kind of make everybody rewind the tape and say, ‘Wow, that’s impressive.’ ”
Said center Corey Gaynor: “Without having D’Eriq under center, we got a true chance to see who the future of the program is going to be, and I think TVD, Peyton Matocha, Jake Garcia, Ryan Rizk, all those guys did a phenomenal job this spring. I thought they all competed their tails off.”
Receivers, who will go back to building on their chemistry with King for his expected fall camp return in August, feel more confident in King’s backups in case they are thrown into game action this season.
“They throw the ball well,” said senior wideout Michael Harley, who feels they still have much they can pick up from King going forward. “Young guys can learn a lot from D’Eriq King in the summer — just going through the quarterback techniques, this and that, and what a quarterback needs to be.”
Defensively, with Diaz taking on the dual role of being the team’s defensive coordinator in addition head coaching duties, he feels progress in the area he has emphasized most to that side of the ball.
“What I think the defense has rediscovered is the love of stopping the run,” Diaz said. “We add the stats up in every practice, and treat every practice like a game, in terms of yards per carry and run efficiency, TFLs and all that type of deal. Our front is starting to show signs of looking like a Miami front again, in terms of how we set a line of scrimmage and how we limit someone’s running game.”
On that front, Diaz noted the spring has presented a “tremendous battle at defensive end” as Miami looks to replace the production of Jaelan Phillips and Quincy Roche.
In the fall, Diaz anticipates a deeper group that won’t have to rely on its two starters as much with Deandre Johnson, Jahfari Harvey, Cameron Williams, Chantz Williams and converted linebacker Zach McCloud able to contribute.
“Growth,” striker Gilbert Frierson said of the defense this spring. “Connection as a family. We got guys working together. We got guys holding the line at different positions, learning different things. You might be in with younger guys. You might be in with older guys. You don’t know, so you got to communicate and all work together on the same page.
“The competition level is off the charts right now, and everybody is just getting better.”